Method and system for filtering notification of e-mail messages

ABSTRACT

A messaging system ( 10 ) for notifying subscribers of incoming e-mail messages includes an e-mail system ( 12 ) communicating with a notification system ( 14 ). The e-mail system ( 12 ) includes a user interface ( 22 ) that permits subscribers to populate filter lists ( 16 ) with e-mail message attributes, such as sender e-mail addresses. The filter list ( 16 ) is provided to the notification system ( 14 ), which selectively notifies subscribers of incoming e-mail messages based on the contents of their respective filter lists. The notification system ( 14 ) can alert subscribers to incoming e-mail messages by pager, facsimile, voice mail, synthetic speech via cellular or conventional telephones, or the like.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The present invention relates generally to messaging systems, andin particular, to a messaging system and method that selectivelynotifies users of received e-mail messages by way of one or morecommunication channels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0002] Electronic mail (e-mail) systems are well known. In such systems,computers are interconnected by a network which allows users at eachcomputer to send messages to each other.

[0003] In conventional e-mail systems, users must directly access theire-mail accounts to retrieve e-mail messages, or to determine if any newmessages have been received. This typically requires users to log ontocomputers serviced by the e-mail system. This arrangement isinconvenient for mobile users who are often without access to computersconnected to the e-mail service. Further, with conventional e-mail,users are not notified of messages until they actually log into thee-mail system. This latter disadvantage frequently causes users who areaway from their computers to miss urgent e-mail messages or receive themin an untimely manner.

[0004] To facilitate timely and convenient notification of incominge-mail messages, an e-mail system can operate in conjunction with anotification system. A notification system is a computer-basedcommunication system that can transfer messages to a subscriber,notifying him/her of particular events, such as the receipt of newe-mail messages. Typically, a notification system can be configured totransfer messages to a subscriber over one or more preselectedcommunications channels. For example, known notification systems cantransmit notification messages to subscribers via fax, voice mail,pagers, the Internet, cellular phones, conventional telephones, and thelike. Such notification systems can be configured to deliver messagesover any or all of the available communication channels, depending onthe preferences of respective subscribers.

[0005] When used in conjunction with an e-mail service, a notificationservice provides a messaging system that quickly and convenientlynotifies subscribers of received e-mail messages without requiring thesubscribers to remain at their computers. Upon receiving notification,subscribers can access the e-mail system at their discretion to reviewany new e-mail messages.

[0006] As is true with any communications system, subscribers receivemessages of varying importance. In e-mail systems, subscribersfrequently prefer to screen messages according to their importance.Unfortunately, current e-mail notification systems do not provideconvenient subscriber interfaces for pre-setting notification prioritiesof incoming e-mail. Moreover, unsolicited e-mail messages, also known as“junk e-mail” and “SPAM” are becoming more common place. This can beproblematic for notification service subscribers, who cannot easilyconfigure the messaging service to block notification of unwanted e-mailmessages. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved messaging systemthat permits subscribers to conveniently select notification priorityfor incoming e-mail messages.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0007] The accompanying drawings provide an understanding of theinvention as described in an embodiment to illustrate the invention andto explain the principles of the invention.

[0008]FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a messaging system inaccordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

[0009]FIG. 2 shows a flowchart diagram illustrating the operation of thee-mail system of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

[0010]FIG. 3 shows a flowchart diagram illustrating the operation of thenotification system of FIG. 1 in accordance with an embodiment of thepresent invention.

[0011]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating details of the notificationsystem shown in FIG. 1.

[0012]FIG. 5 illustrates an example of an e-mail summary windowdisplayable by the user interface shown in FIG. 1.

[0013]FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary e-mail message display windowdisplayable by the user interface shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] It will be understood that the following detailed description isexemplary and intended to provide further explanation of the inventionas claimed.

[0015] The present invention relates to an improved communication systemfor providing a messaging system capable of delivering notificationmessages to subscribers by way of one or more preselected communicationchannels. The messaging system includes, among other things, an e-mailsystem having a convenient user interface that permits subscribers tocreate filter lists containing predetermined e-mail message attributes,such as sender e-mail addresses. The filter lists can establishnotification priorities for incoming e-mail messages. A notificationsystem, operating in conjunction with the e-mail system, can delivere-mail notices to subscribers, according to subscriber-selected priorityschemes contained in the filter lists.

[0016] This arrangement is advantageous in that it allows subscribers toconveniently set the delivery priority of e-mail notices. For instance,for e-mail messages of importance, subscribers can configure the filterlist so that the notification system alerts them as quickly as possibleof new e-mail. Alternatively, for unimportant e-mail, subscribers canconfigure the filter list to act as a blocking mechanism for preventingnotice of unwanted e-mail messages.

[0017] Turning now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, thereis illustrated an example of a messaging system 10 in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. The message system 10 includes ane-mail system 12 in communication with a notification system 14.

[0018] The e-mail system 12 transfers e-mail notices to the notificationsystem 14, which in turn, broadcasts the e-mail notices to respectivesubscribers via preselected ones of a plurality of communicationchannels 15. The e-mail system 12 also generates a filter list 16, whichcan be used by the notification system 14 to determine broadcastpriority of an e-mail notice.

[0019] The e-mail notices can be computer-readable data tokens or filesthat are generated in response to incoming e-mail messages received bythe e-mail system 12. An e-mail notice can include informationsufficient to identify a corresponding incoming e-mail message. Suchinformation can include attributes typically associated with e-mailmessages, such as the e-mail addresses of the sender and recipient, thetime and date when the e-mail message was received, the subject headerof the message, or the like. Data files representing e-mail notices canbe in any data format usable by both the e-mail system 12 andnotification system 14, such as ASCII text.

[0020] The filter list 16 can be a computer-readable data filecontaining ASCII text representing e-mail message attributes which areusable by the notification system 14 to identify specific e-mailnotices. The attributes stored in filter list 16 can include any ofthose listed above, but are typically limited to e-mail sender addressesand subject headers. Each e-mail attribute in the filter list 16 isassociated with a subscriber-configurable priority flag, which can be asoftware variable representing a predetermined notification prioritylevel. A user interface 22 in the e-mail system 12 permits a subscriberto select e-mail message attributes and their corresponding priorityflags, and then store them in the filter list 16.

[0021] By this arrangement, subscribers can conveniently set e-mailnotification priorities while accessing their e-mail accounts or whenreading e-mail messages.

[0022] Although the present invention is not limited to any particularsoftware or computer architecture, the exemplary messaging system 10shows the e-mail and notification systems 12-14 implemented using anexemplary client-server architecture. In this arrangement, an e-mailclient 20 communicates with an e-mail server 18. A notification server26 communicates with the e-mail server 18. An interface 28 is alsoincluded in the notification system 14, permitting the notificationserver 26 to communicate with subscribers over the communicationchannels 15.

[0023] The e-mail client 20 includes the user interface 22, which can bea graphical user interface (GUI) displayable by a conventional personalcomputer. The e-mail system 12 can include e-mail services and featuresassociated with conventional e-mail, such as a standard interface forreceiving and transferring e-mail messages over a computer network, adatabase for storing e-mail messages, and user interfaces, such as GUIs,for displaying and composing e-mail messages.

[0024] In addition to the conventional features associated with e-mail,the e-mail system 12 is adapted to generate the filter list 16 ande-mail notices in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. An e-mail notice is generated by the e-mail system toindicate the arrival of a new e-mail message. E-mail notices originateat the e-mail server 18 and can then be passed to the notificationserver 26. To facilitate timely delivery of the e-mail notices, thenotification server 26 can be configured to poll the e-mail server 18 atpredetermined intervals to check for new e-mail. Also, the e-mailnotices can be sent to the e-mail client 20 when the user logs onto thee- mail. The e-mail server 18 can make any necessary format changes tothe e-mail notices to place them in a form suitable for use by thenotification system 14.

[0025] As will be discussed in greater detail below, the user interface22 permits a subscriber to create and update the filter list 16. Theuser interface 22 can include a software program executing on a personalcomputer which generates a menu-driven computer interface that permitssubscribers to select e-mail message attributes and set correspondingnotification priority flags to be applied to future messages received bythe e-mail server 18. The interface 22 can automatically store theseattributes and flags in the filter list 16.

[0026] The e-mail client 20 can output the filter list 16 so that it isreadily accessible by the notification server 26 without furtherintervention from a subscriber or system administrator.

[0027] The e-mail system 12 can be constructed fromcommercially-available e-mail software, modified in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. For example, the e-mail system 14 asdescribed herein can be implemented using one or more conventionalpersonal computers communicating over a conventional computer networkand running Lotus Notes e-mail software, which has been modified usingthe LotusScript application programming environment, available fromLotus Development Corporation of Cambridge, Mass. Using LotusScript, theuser interface 22 can be programmed as a GUI included in the Lotus Notese-mail client.

[0028] The notification system 14 can be implemented using one or morecommercially-available personal computers communicating over aconventional network and configured with application software tofunction in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

[0029] The e-mail client 20 can be an application client softwareprogram residing on a PC running a standard operating system, such asWindows from Microsoft Corp. The servers 18, 26 can be server softwareprograms residing on conventional servers communicating with the clientPCs using a standard computer network, such as an Ethernet local areanetwork (LAN) or the Internet.

[0030] The notification system 14 can include software programs orservers (not shown) permitting the integration of voice mail, fax,e-mail and other messaging system into the system 10. In thisarrangement, the system 10 acts as a unified messaging/notificationsystem in which subscribers can be notified in incoming messagesarriving over voice mail, fax, e-mail, and the like. An integratednotification service, such as J-FAX, from J-FAX, Inc. can be used tosupport the unified notification system. Such services permit the e-mailsystem 12 to includes legacy e-mail systems, which can be pre-existinge-mail systems used by subscribers prior to integrating the e-mailsystem 12 and notification system 14 in accordance with an embodiment ofthe invention. In addition, legacy voice-mail messaging systems can belikewise integrated.

[0031]FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart diagram of a method of operatingthe e-mail system 12 in the set-up mode in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention. In step 52, the user interface 22 is displayedby the e-mail client 20. The user interface 22 can be a GUI permittingthe subscriber to select functions by pointing and clicking with acomputer mouse. As stated earlier, the GUI can be implemented byconfiguring a Lotus Notes e-mail client using LotusScript, according toan embodiment of the invention. Next, in step 54, the notificationselections made by the subscriber are received by the e-mail client 20via the user interface 22. The notification selections identify e-mailattributes and their corresponding flags for determining the prioritywith which incoming e-mail messages are to be notified to thesubscriber. In step 56, the filter list 16 containing the notificationselections is generated by the e-mail client 20. The filter list 16 isthen provided to the notification system 14. The filter list 16 can beprovided directly to a notification server 26, or alternatively, thelist 16 can be stored on the e-mail server 18 and the notificationserver 26 can actively poll the e-mail server 26 at predeterminedintervals to receive the filter list 16.

[0032] In addition, the filter list 16 can include two separate lists:an enable list and a blocking list (not shown). These two lists supporttwo operational modes of the system 10: an “include” mode and an“exclude” mode. In the include mode, the system 10 only notifies asubscriber of an incoming e-mail if attributes of the e-mail message arepresent in the include list. Thus, in this mode, the system 10 blocksnotification of all e-mail messages, except those defined by the includelist.

[0033] In the exclude mode, a subscriber is notified of all incominge-mail messages, except those identified by the exclude list. This modepermits a user to specifically block e-mail from particular sources orregarding particular subjects. The user interface for selecting a modeof operation is further described below in connection with FIG. 5.

[0034]FIG. 3 shows a flowchart diagram illustrating a method 60 ofoperating the notification system 14 in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. In step 62, the filter list 16 is received by thenotification server 26. The notification server can store the filterlist 16 for later comparison with e-mail notices. Next, in step 64 ane-mail notice is received from the e-mail server 18. The e-mail noticeindicates that a new e-mail message has been received by the e-mailserver 18. The e-mail notice can be sent directly to the notificationserver 26 using an internet protocol (IP), or alternatively thenotification server can include a proxy server that essentially emulatesthe e-mail client 20 and logs into the e-mail server 18 to retrieve thee-mail notices. With a proxy server, the notification system 14 can beconfigured to regularly activate the proxy server at predeterminedintervals to check for new e-mail notices. Upon receiving the e-mailnotice, the notification server 26 compares the e-mail notice to thee-mail attributes in the filter list 16 (step 66). Based on thecomparison between the e-mail notice and the filter list 16, thenotification server 26 can either transfer the e-mail notice to theinterface 28 or block its transfer (step 68).

[0035] To make this comparison, the notification server 26 compares theattributes contained in the e-mail notice to those stored in the filterlist 16. The notification server 26 then checks any priority flags inthe filter list 16 corresponding to the e-mail notice attributes, andaccordingly, either blocks or forwards the notice to the interface 28.The priority flags can include an “include flag” and an “exclude flag”.An include flag indicates that the e-mail notice should be forwarded tothe subscriber, while an exclude flag indicates that the e-mail noticeshould be blocked. Accordingly, if an attribute in the e-mail noticecorresponds to an exclude flag, the notification server 26 blocks thee-mail notice, not passing it to interface 28. Alternatively, if ane-mail notice attribute corresponds to an include flag, the notificationserver 26 forwards the e-mail notice to the interface 28, which, inturn, causes the notice to be transferred to the subscriber via one ormore of the communication channels 15.

[0036] The server 26 can include a software program executing on aconventional server including a standard operating system, such asWindows NT. In such an arrangement, the server 26 monitors a standardnetwork interface (not shown) included in the PC for incoming e-mailnotices from the e-mail server 18. When a notice is received, the server26 determines the corresponding subscriber by checking the subscriber'se-mail address, which is included as one of the notice attributes. Theserver 26 can include a plurality of subscriber profiles, which arecomputer-usable data files that can indicate which communicationchannels are to be used for transferring e-mail notices to respectivesubscribers. Based on the subscriber selections contained in the profilecorresponding to the received e-mail notice, the server 26 can transferthe e-mail notice to the corresponding interface components 80-86 usingAPIs available with the operating system. The server 26 can perform anyadditional formatting required to communicate notices to the interfacecomponents 80-86. The notification server can include commerciallyavailable software for providing notification services, such as thatavailable from Notify Technologies Corp. of San Jose, Calif.

[0037] In response to e-mail notices from the server 26, the interface28 transfers the notices over preselected ones of the communicationchannels 15 using standard protocols.

[0038] The profiles in the notification server 26 can be individuallyconfigured to transfer notices over communication channels selected bythe subscribers. For example, if a subscriber prefers to be notified byphone during the day and pager during the evening, the notificationserver 26 can be programmed accordingly to deliver e-mail notices to aphone and pager.

[0039]FIG. 4 illustrates a detailed block diagram of the notificationsystem 14. The interface 28 includes a text-to-synthesizer (TTS) 80, aconventional facsimile (fax) interface 82, a conventional dual-tonemulti-frequency (DTMF) dialer 84, and a conventional TCP/IP interface86. These interface components permit the notification server 26 tocommunicate with each of the various communication channels 15. Eachinterface component can be implemented using commercially-available PCperipheral devices configured to communicate with the server 26 usingstandard APIs in Windows.

[0040] In particular, the TTS 80 generates spoken messages in responseto computer readable text messages received form the notification server26. The synthesized speech can be used to audibly notify a subscriber byway of the voice mail 34, cellular phone 36, or the conventionaltelephone 40. The TTS 80 can be implemented using standard components,such as TruVoice from Centigram Communications Corp. of San Jose, Calif.or DECtalk from Digital Equipment Corp. of Massachusetts. The faxinterface 82 can be a conventional personal computer fax card, such as aFAX/Modem PC Card from Boca Research, Inc. of Boca Raton, Fla. The faxinterface 82 can permit the notification server 26 to transfer e-mailnotices to subscribers by way of the fax 32. The DTMF dialer 84 can be aconventional telephony interface for use with standard personalcomputers, such as the Alcatel 4961 TAPI Middleware from Alcatel ofParis, France. The DTMF dialer 84 can be used to connect to each of thecommunications channels that rely on a conventional dial-uptelecommunications network.

[0041] The TCP/IP stack 86 can be a commercially-available softwareprogram running on a standard PC operating system, such as Window NT.The stack 86 permits the notification server 26 to communicate an e-mailnotice to the subscriber over data networks using the TCP/IP protocol,such as the Internet 30.

[0042]FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary GUI that can be included in theuser interface 22 of the e-mail client 20. A message summary window 120can be used to display summary information of received e-mail messagesin the summary display portion 122. In the example shown, two e-mailmessages have been received and are unread. The summary window 120 alsoincludes a tool bar 124 having one or more software buttons. Included inthe tool bar 124 is a notification include button 126, a notificationexclude button 128, and a notification mode button 130. A subscriber canselect an e-mail message in the summary window 122 and then click on thenotify include button 126 to set an e-mail attribute and correspondingpriority flag in the filter list 16, which can cause the notificationsystem 14 to notify the subscriber of any future e-mail messagesreceived from the sender or having the same subject of the selectede-mail message. By clicking the notify exclude button 128, thesubscriber can set an e-mail attribute and priority flag in the filterlist 16 which can cause the notification system 14 to block notificationof any future e-mail received by the sender or having the same subjectof the selected e-mail message.

[0043] The notify mode button 130 permits the subscriber to selecteither the exclude mode of operation or the include mode of operation,the details of which were discussed above in connection with FIG. 2. Ifthe exclude mode is selected, the notify include button 126 can bedeactivated; and conversely, if the include mode is selected, the notifyexclude button 128 can be deactivated. Further, when the exclude mode isselected, the contents of the filter list can define e-mail messages tobe blocked by the notification system. Conversely, when the include modeis selected, the contents of the filter list can exclusively definethose e-mail messages that will be notified to the subscriber.

[0044]FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary message display window 90 that canbe included in the user interface 22. The message display window 90includes a receiver e-mail address field 100, a sender e-mail addressfield 102, a subject header field 104 and a display portion 106 fordisplaying the contents of a received e-mail-mail message. The window 90also includes a tool bar 108 which can include conventional softwarebuttons for conventional e-mail functions, as well as a notify includebutton 110 and a notify exclude button 112.

[0045] The functions of the software buttons 110, 112 are essentiallythe same as those buttons 126, 128 described above for the messagesummary window 120. By clicking the notify include button 110, asubscriber can configure the filter list 16 so that the notificationsystem 14 transfers e-mail notices for any future messages received bythe sender or regarding the subject of the e-mail message currentlydisplayed in the display portion 120. Alternatively, any future e-mailmessages from the sender or regarding the indicated subject of thedisplayed message can be blocked from notification by clicking thenotify exclude button 112.

[0046] It should be appreciated that a wide range of changes andmodifications may be made to the embodiment of the invention asdescribed herein. Thus, it is intended that the foregoing detaileddescription be regarded as illustrative rather than limiting and thatthe following claims, including all equivalents, are intended to definethe scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for selective notification of e-mailmessages, the method comprising: displaying a received e-mail messageand a user interface element in the same window; while the e-mailmessage is displayed in the window, receiving a selection of the userinterface element from a user; in response to the selection of the userinterface element, storing a predetermined attribute associated with thee-mail message in a filter list; and selectively notifying the user ofan incoming e-mail message as a function of the predetermined attributestored in the filter list.
 2. The invention of claim 1, wherein thepredetermined attribute is selected from the group consisting of asender address, a subject field, and a recipient address.
 3. Theinvention of claim 1, wherein the act of displaying a received e-mailmessage comprises displaying summary information regarding the receivede-mail message.
 4. The invention of claim 1, wherein the act ofdisplaying a received e-mail message comprises displaying content of thereceived e-mail message.
 5. The invention of claim 1, wherein the act ofselectively notifying comprises blocking notification of an incominge-mail message associated with the predetermined attribute.
 6. Theinvention of claim 1, wherein the act of selectively notifying comprisesnotifying the user of an incoming e-mail message associated with thepredetermined attribute.
 7. The invention of claim 1, wherein the userinterface element comprises a notification include button, and whereinthe act of selectively notifying comprises notifying the user of anincoming e-mail message associated with the predetermined attribute. 8.The invention of claim 1, wherein the user interface element comprises anotification exclude button, and wherein the act of selectivelynotifying comprises blocking notification of an incoming e-mail messageassociated with the predetermined attribute.
 9. The invention of claim 1further comprising transferring the filter list from an e-mail system toa notification system.
 10. A communication system comprising: a filterlist; an e-mail system operative to display a received e-mail messageand a user interface element in the same window, wherein the e-mailsystem is further operative to store a predetermined attributeassociated with the e-mail message in the filter list in response to theselection of the user interface element by a user; and a notificationsystem, in communication with the e-mail system, operative toselectively notify the user of an incoming e-mail message as a functionof the predetermined attribute stored in the filter list.
 11. Theinvention of claim 10, wherein the predetermined attribute is selectedfrom the group consisting of a sender address, a subject field, and arecipient address.
 12. The invention of claim 10, wherein the e-mailsystem is operative to display a received e-mail message by displayingsummary information regarding the received e-mail message.
 13. Theinvention of claim 10, wherein the e-mail system is operative to displaya received e-mail message by displaying content of the received e-mailmessage.
 14. The invention of claim 10, wherein the notification systemis operative to selectively notify the user by blocking notification ofan incoming e-mail message associated with the predetermined attribute.15. The invention of claim 10, wherein the notification system isoperative to selectively notify the user by notifying the user of anincoming e-mail message associated with the predetermined attribute. 16.The invention of claim 10, wherein the user interface element comprisesa notification include button, and wherein the notification systemnotifies the user of an incoming e-mail message associated with thepredetermined attribute.
 17. The invention of claim 10, wherein the userinterface element comprises a notification exclude button, and whereinthe notification system blocks notification of an incoming e-mailmessage associated with the predetermined attribute.
 18. A method forselective notification of e-mail messages, the method comprising:providing a user interface window displaying an e-mail message, whereinthe user interface window includes a user interface element; while thee-mail message is displayed in the user interface window, receiving aselection of the user interface element from a user; in response to theselection of the user interface element, storing a predeterminedattribute associated with the e-mail message in a filter list; andselectively notifying the user of an incoming e-mail message as afunction of the predetermined attribute stored in the filter list. 19.The invention of claim 18, wherein the act of selectively notifyingcomprises blocking notification of an incoming e-mail message associatedwith the predetermined attribute.
 20. The invention of claim 18, whereinthe act of selectively notifying comprises notifying the user of anincoming e-mail message associated with the predetermined attribute.